Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Zucchini Corn Bread

You may recall from this post that I was lamenting what to do with the two zucchini that I'd harvested for the year, shaking my head at the fact that I had so many recipes, and too few zucchini. Well, today I pulled in a third! Yes, four plants, a summer of care, water, worm castings, organic compost, and my guess is that each zucchini has probably cost me around $37.50, but I digress...

The zucchini in question. Isn't it a beauty?

Today I knew exactly what recipe I wanted to try. I spotted it in the July 2011 issue of Bon Appetit and thought it sounded unique and wonderful. It is. I think this is the best corn bread I've ever tasted. Moist, dense, flecked with my home grown zucchini, just the right amount of sweetness, and it is not at all crumbly, so cuts like a dream. It was the perfect accompaniment to our brisket dinner tonight, and I suspect will made a great adornment to the chili I expect to make later in the week. Zucchini Corn Bread

Position a rack in the middle of oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9 x 5 x 3" loaf pan.

Melt 1/2 cup butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Continue cooking until butter solids at bottom of pan turn golden brown, about 3 minutes. Scrape butter into a medium bowl. Set aside and let cool. Whisk in eggs and buttermilk.

Trim zucchini ends. Thinly slice five 1/8" rounds from 1 end of zucchini and reserve for garnish. Coarsely grate remaining zucchini. Add to bowl with butter mixture and stir until well blended.

Sift both flours, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda into a large bowl. Whisk in cornmeal. Add zucchini mixture; fold just to blend (mixture will be very thick). Transfer batter to prepared pan and smooth top.

Bake bread until golden and a tester inserted into center comes out clean, 55-65 minutes. Let cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove from pan; let cool completely on a wire rack. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

Isn't this a beautiful loaf? Although, seriously, could I have found a napkin that looks more putrid than the one I selected for this picture?